Britain has said yes to new water resources. Whether they get built depends on a harder question: Why here, and why should we trust you?
Copper’s recent report Britain’s Thirsty Future showed that 76% of people back new reservoirs and only 4% oppose them. Between 61 and 64% support desalination, water transfers and recycling. After the driest July on record, whether Britain needs more water is largely settled.
Whether it gets built is not. National support is a licence to act. Consent is won in particular places, from particular communities, and it rests on trust. Right now that trust is thin on the ground: 68% of people say water companies are not doing enough. The need case is getting easier. The place case is getting harder.
A mandate not a guarantee
Reservoirs are not built nationally. They are built next to someone.
People in the UK increasingly accept that new water resources are required somewhere. But that national support doesn’t help answer the local, much harder, question: “Why here?”
The trust gap
Water companies get the sharpest criticism, but nobody gets a pass. Over two-thirds (67%) of people surveyed say the government is not doing enough, and 61% say the same of regulators.
People are not opposed to new infrastructure; they just want clearer plans, stronger leadership and more urgency.
Their support also comes with conditions. Fixing leaks is the public’s top priority, at 61%. That is ahead of new reservoirs, at 57%. Many believe companies should show they are making better use of existing water before asking anyone to accept new infrastructure or higher costs. And 54% are unwilling to pay more to fund it.
Where the scorecard comes in
This is why this autumn’s reports matter.
Ofwat found that companies met 49% of performance targets in the first year of AMP8. Leakage has fallen for a third year running. But only five companies met their leakage targets. The Environment Agency gave England’s nine water and sewerage companies 16 of a possible 36 stars, the lowest since its ratings began.
Our research found that public support “appears conditional on confidence that existing resources are being managed effectively”. So we think a poor scorecard does more than dent a reputation. It makes the next reservoir harder to consent.
From mandate to consent
What turns support into consent? The same lessons come up across our work on reservoirs, transfers, recycling and desalination schemes:
- Explain the need. Communities are more receptive when it is clearly set out. Understanding is often the barrier, not opposition: 43% had never heard of water transfers; 61% supported them once the idea was explained.
- Start early. Early engagement works better than late consultation.
- Expect local concerns to differ from the national debate.
- Treat trust and transparency as seriously as the technical evidence.
- Show local benefits, not just national ones.
- Keep going. This is an ongoing process, not a single consultation.
The public has given the sector a licence to act. The scorecards show how water companies are using it. The next proposed reservoir will turn on whether people believe what they are told, and by whom. That is a communications job as much as an engineering one.
Britain’s Thirsty Future is Copper’s research into public attitudes to new water resources. Read the full report here. If you would like to talk about building public support for a scheme, get in touch: Tom.Gallagher@copperconsultancy.com.